Water & Storm Country

What kind of monster…? The worst kind—thevery worst kind.

But then I see something strange, somethingthat temporarily snaps me out of my anger. A girl, sword held high,silver and red and streaked with lightning flashes, slashing at aseaman, killing him. Her skin’s as brown as Jade’s, as brown as theHeater children who are, even now, headed her way.

She sees them and her body seems to go stiff,like all the grace and ability I just saw her use to fight theSoaker has been sucked out of her.

Then she starts to run toward the children,shouting something back over her shoulder.

Thud!

Our boat crashes onto shore, but I can’t takemy eyes off of what I’m seeing, because there’s more. Anotherbrown-ski

The other officers are spilling out, alreadymoving up the sand, shouting orders at the bilge and the menalready, although no one’s listening because they’re too busyfighting. My father pulls at my elbow. “Remember—you fight or shedies,” he says.

I grit my teeth and climb out.

Drawing my sword, I run after him, toward thefight, which has spilled onto the sand, right into the middle ofthe children, who have huddled together, surrounded by death.

The four brown-ski

A few Stormer riders eye them, but,surprisingly, turn away and continue to fight only the Soakers.

The other officers have reached the edge ofthe battle and seem uncertain of what to do about the cluster ofnow-protected bilge. “Kill them!” my father shouts, and I’m notsure whether he means the bilge, or the four Heater warriorsprotecting them.

A few of the officers leap into action, Hobbsincluded, attacking the two Heater girls. The girl with the bowunleashes two arrows in short succession, cutting down two officersas if they’re no more than common foot soldiers. Theirsoaked-through blue uniforms won’t protect them now.

Another officer drops when the sword-carryingHeater girl stabs him through the midsection.

Hobbs slashes at her, but she blocks hisattack, quickly countering with a flurry of strikes of her own. Hejumps back into a group of other officers who are sticking closetogether, doing battle with a few dark Riders who have brokenthrough.

Riders fall. Officers fall. The world spinsaround me, like we’re inside a barrel, rolling down a hill.

With the greater numbers, the officerseventually get past the four Heater warriors, who are barely ableto protect themselves against the onslaught. The children breakfrom their cluster, ru

Hobbs leads the charge, urging the officerstoward them, stalking them like prey. Why would they kill the verychildren who maintain the ships, the very slaves bought by myfather? Because he ordered them to. Because they blindly follow hisevery command.

I have to do something.

I spring into action, ru

“No!” one of the Heater warriors screams, thegirl with the sword. Her blade is moving impossibly fast, cuttingand slashing and leaving officers dead in her wake as she fightsthrough them. The other three redouble their efforts to get back infront of the children.

But I’m closer—and no one is trying to stopme—so I reach them first, just as one of the other officersslaughters another child.

I act on a choice I only now realize I made along time ago. I stab him in the back.

He cries out and falls, drawing every otherofficer’s attention, Hobbs included.

“You!” he roars. “Kill him!”

Three officers spring forward, and it’s all Ican do to deflect their heavy blows. Tripping, I fall back—

And it’s over, surely it’s over—

And I won’t see Jade, not ever again—

And then one of the officers falls, an arrowthrough his ear, which is spouting blood.

A second one dies next to him, pierced by theHeater girl’s sword. She made it through. She saved me.

The third officer turns to run, but is cutoff by the shadowy Heater. His two curved daggers make short workof him.

I struggle to my feet, holding my sword atthe ready, expecting them to kill me next. Save me and then killme.

A scream tears through the rain.

We all turn to see Hobbs standing over aHeater boy, who’s fallen to the sand, surrounded by the dead bodiesof the brave children who fought with him.

Hobbs killed them. He killed them all. Andhe’s about to kill this boy too.

This boy who is…

My eyes widen when his face comes into view:ski

The boy whose life I must save now.

Hobbs raises his sword and there’s no time,although the two Heater girls are already ru

I pull a knife from my belt, trying toremember everything Cain taught me about knife-throwing—eyes onyour target, shoulder and elbow and wrist in line, throw hard butnot too hard—and heave it past the ru

The moment the knife leaves my hand,everything seems to speed up. Hobbs’ sword falls so fast, sodeadly, but it’s not in his hand when it does. It’s gravity, onlygravity, and the earth’s pull takes him, too, a moment later, myknife embedded in the back of his skull.

The Heater girls pull the boy out from underHobbs, one of them clutching him as tightly as if he’s her son,while the other—the bigger, stronger one—stands over them, daringanyone else to attack.

She nods at me. I nod back.

The boy just stares, his face soaked withtears.

I turn away and almost run right into the twoHeater men, whose weapons are raised.

This might be suicide, might be the dumbestthing I’ve ever done, but I drop my own sword in the sand, broadside down.

“I’m not your enemy,” I say.

“We know,” the taller, unmarked one says, hiswords round and long.

The one with the dark markings speaks, hisvoice coming out warmer and clearer than I expected. “We’re lookingfor a Heater girl. Thirteen years old. She’d resemble those two.”He motions to the two that are protecting the bilge rat boy.

For the first time, my eyes really take themin, every detail, every feature. The curve of their noses. Theshape of their brown eyes. The texture of their hair. They appearmore like sisters than tribemates. And Jade would look right athome next to them.

I gasp, nodding. “I know her,” I say. “She’sback on the ship.”

“Let’s go,” the shadow-eyed one says.

With a ragged shout and clangor, a group ofSoakers pour down the beach toward us. At their head is myfather.

Sadie

When Skye and Siena and Feve and Circ rushdown the beach, I want to go with them, to help save theirkinsfolk, but I can’t, because at the same moment I see Remy andBuff and Dazz, fighting in a circle, surrounded by at least tenSoakers.

I urge Passion in their direction, watchingas Dazz clubs one enemy in the skull, knocking him out. But anotherSoaker manages to slip through and stab him in the shoulder. Hisgrip relaxes and his club falls away. “Ahhh!” Buff yells, coming tohis friend’s rescue, slashing with his short-knife. He discards oneopponent, but is then knocked back into Remy, who’s facing theother way, facing an onslaught of enemy strikes.